


In Other Wor(l)ds: Lysiclaude Week AU Ficlets

by slotumn



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Animal Ears, Animal Traits, Arcades, Banter, Bittersweet, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Fighting Games - Freeform, Identity Porn, Inspired by Shakespeare, Monster Boy, Monster Girl, Non-Explicit Sex, Post-Apocalypse, Quickies, Secret Identity, Shakespearean Language, Superheroes, jackalope!lysithea, wyvern!claude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25089433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn
Summary: Ficlets with Lysiclaude Week AU prompts.Chapter 1: Scavenging medicine in a post-apocalyptic worldChapter 2: Othello, with a twist.Chapter 3: In which Genealogy of the Holy War is a fighting game.Chapter 4: An actor and a manager walk onto a set...Chapter 5: Creative ways of dating someone you only know by their secret superhero identity.Chapter 6: The downsides(?) of being a leporid.
Relationships: Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: LysiClaude Week 2020, Slotumn Portfolio





	1. Powdered Miracle (Post Apocalypse AU)

**Author's Note:**

> Every week is Lysiclaude Week for me honestly, but I don't write enough AU stuff with these two so I figured I may as well.
> 
> Also, I made a Lysiclaude Discord server-- adults only, for ease of moderation, but you should be an adult to be reading this anyway lol: https://discord.gg/GZmtGbw
> 
> Do consider joining if you want a place to yell about this pair (and other pairs too)!

"Nothing here," Claude declared, a sigh barely held back behind the statement. "Moving onto the next one, I suppose."

Lysithea nodded and turned her gaze away from the run-down hospital, feeling the packet of powdered medicine in her own satchel.

It wasn't that she expected anything. Far from it, in fact. The drug was in high demand even (especially) after civilization broke down, and they were lucky that they managed to stock up as much as they had in the first place.

Eventually, they'd run out. 

Claude spoke of going to that settlement, Garreg Mach, where they apparently had the means to produce medicine on par with pre-breakdown pharmaceuticals, but they'd have hundreds of others competing with them for a spot. 

"I'll kill them, if that's what it takes," he'd once quietly told her. "I'll do far worse, if I have to."

She had no doubt that he would.

That was why she couldn't tell him to give up, to let her face a sure death instead of an unsure life in a world without much to live for, to let go of this futile quest.

"Come on," he leaned down to kiss her cheek, "I heard there's a candy store nearby. Let's go see if we can find anything there."

Wherever they went, bitter and sweet white flecks spattered behind them.


	2. Green-Eyed Monster (Shakespeare Play AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespearean lingo is difficult.

"Take my life if that shall calm thy heart's turmoil, my lord-- for death frightens me not."

"Ah, Lysithea, thou remainst so audacious," the man whispered, poisoned dagger in hand. "Once, I was enarmored by such defiance."

The lady's gaze did not waver.

"It shall follow thee to the end of thy life, for my soul shall return as a spectre, a restless reminder of love broken by a man too weak to trust in it."

Blade's edge, illuminated by the sliver of moonlight, approached pale flesh.

It clattered to the ground as the couple met in a passionate kiss.


	3. The Holy Tag Team War (Arcade/gaming AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I actually gotta play Genealogy one of these days.

"A round of whatever game you pick at the arcade, and whoever loses buys the other coffee-- or hot chocolate, or whatever. Call?"

Lysithea sighed. "There are better things for two college students to invest their time and money into than things like video games."

"Oh?" Claude raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Are you forfeiting because you know you'll lose?"

Few moments later, they were at the machine for Holy War Crusaders, a combo-focused tag team fighter-- one he was quite familiar with, thankfully.

"Hurry up with the selections," Lysithea chided, already having three characters picked out-- Deirdre, Ishtar, and Ayra.

"Alright, alright."

He briefly considered whether he should fight with just his main, since he wasn't quite as confident in the other two he was practicing, and the damage was scaled to match the amount of characters in the tag team-- but decided against it, since part of the fun was switching up characters.

"Jamke! Lex! Arion!" the selection voice boomed out. "The holy war rages on-- fight for glory and justice!"

"Why do they have to do...that?" Lysithea muttered.

"What, the narration?"

"Yes. It's corny."

"The corniness is part of the franchise's charm," he shrugged, then pushed the joystick sharply to the right. "Anyway, thanks for letting me get the head start."

"W-wait, not fair!"

"Your fault for getting distracted!"

The first half went swimmingly-- he wasn't the best with Arion, since the spear's stabbing movesets always felt rather uncomfortable to him, but the flight mechanic was very useful for closing in on zoners like Ishtar and Deirdre. 

Lysithea didn't use Ayra much, which was to be expected since she was one of those "deadly in the right hands but difficult to master" characters. Considering that she seemed to prefer playing it safe by keeping her distance, he could expect to overwhelm her with Jamke's fast attacks once she switched--

"Here I come!"

\--something purple jumped onto the screen, and suddenly, Arion was gone.

Claude gripped the joystick tighter.

Focus, he thought.

The pace of the fight kicked up, Ayra and Jamke exchanging fast mix-ups that would result in devastating punishes if they read just one movement wrong.

"Oh shit--"

He went low while Lysithea went for a high and got hit.

Jamke continuously cried out in pain on-screen as his health dropped below the quarter mark. 

"I see that's all you've got," the purple swordswoman taunted on the screen.

A glance over at Lysithea revealed a small smile on her otherwise concentrated expression.

Well, two could play at that game.

"Finally, a good fight," Lex declared, swinging his axe.

Lex wasn't really his usual type of character in fighting games, being a slow, heavy hitter-- but he had to spend a lot of time with the guy for the story mode, so he'd grown far more accustomed to the axe fighter than he initially anticipated. It was a surprisingly good investment-- when the guy hit, especially on low health, he hit hard. 

The clash on the screen continued, special gage on both characters filling up as they guarded, hit, guarded.

When he heard the telltale "zing" sound, Claude held his breath while his right hand went to rapidly move the joystick in half circles to activate the special, Vantage, which should be enough to secure his victory.

Then at the last second, something very important crossed his mind. 

One of the reasons why Ayra was called a monster in the right hands was because of--

"ASTRA!"

"..."

Claude stared as both of his remaining characters got sliced to death on-screen as black silhouettes, and continued to do so until the announcer declared Player Two's victory.

When he finally turned his head, he was greeted by Lysithea tapping her feet.

"Well? I hope you're ready to pay up."

At the café, he learned about an hour too late that Lysithea was one of the high-ranking Ayra players in online matches. 


	4. Action! (Celebrity/Manager AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw I wanted to make this cute and lighthearted but it turned out kind of bittersweet instead.

"Yes, I believe that would, ah, work-- yes, thank you, I'll, mh, get back to you shortly-- have a good, day-- !!"

Lysithea jammed her finger onto the red icon on the screen and glared at Claude.

"What? I was being quiet this time-- no groaning, no dirty talk, just pummeling the hell out of you like the good boy I am," he leaned in close with a wide grin, "isn't that right, Miss Manager?"

"Do finish up fast, the break will be over soon," Lysithea muttered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yes, ma'am, whatever you say, ma'am~"

She sighed. "They really don't pay me enough for this."

\---

The final scene was filmed surprisingly fast despite (or because of?) the vigorous quickie. As usual, he carried that business smile all the way off the set, exchanging half-hearted flirtings with the lead actress just like he was supposed to.

"Doesn't it piss you off?" he asked, as the car unceremoniously made its way to his house. 

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that."

"When I flirt for the sake of PR and issue-making."

She glanced over at the other side of the car to see him wearing the non-photogenic neutral expression-- the one some may call a "resting bitchface."

"I'm your manager, Claude," she stated. "It's my job to ensure you do all those things."

Claude leaned his head against the window. "Yeah, I guess that was a stupid question."

Silence.

"Swear to god, this is going to be my last gig before I retire from showbiz."

"You always say that."

"No, really," he insisted. "Got enough money saved up, so I'm going to retire and become an uninteresting regular guy. One too boring for the paparazzis to go after. Maybe I'll run a cooking YouTube channel as a side hustle or something."

"Paparazzis go after YouTubers these days, too, you know."

Claude chuckled. "Can't wait for them to take a snapshot of me dragging a cart full of of those huge Nutella containers at Costco."

"And why would you need a cartful's worth of Nutella?"

"Because my wife would have a major sweet tooth."

Lysithea couldn't help smiling at that. 

Hottest actor in the industry, shrewd son of a bitch and master of image making, Claude von Riegan, talking about retiring and becoming a so-called regular person with a regular life as his greatest wish.

To be honest, she doubted that he would ever manage to be as "uninteresting" as he confessed he wanted to be. Doubted he could ever be forgotten, with his sharp wit and charisma drawing attention wherever he went. 

Doubted he could avoid all the baggages of being larger-than-life, of always living a show.

The car pulled into the driveway of a surprisingly humble house.

"Come on," he took her hand, "let's make all that rescheduling you did worth it."

But right now, with all the cameras off, the stage was set for just the two of them to enjoy.


	5. Villains, Identity Issues, and Dating Your Cute Teammate (Superhero AU)

The superhero alter ego thing wasn't all that difficult for him.

Because really, all he had were alter egos-- selected, edited, packaged to nicely fit whatever situation he was in, whether that was the high society of Almyra (full of psychopaths), a prestigious business school in Derdriu (also full of psychopaths), or the league of superpowered "heroes" fighting equally superpowered gangs of "villains" (not as psychopathic than the former two and definitely less so than what they fought, but a lot of people there were obviously in it for personal glory and ego boosts more than altruism).

Whether he was Khalid, Claude, or Barbarossa was dictated entirely by what was the most advantageous in a given circumstance, and maybe that was kind of sad, but hey, at least nobody beat the shit out of him for things he couldn't control now.

That aside, the alter ego thing did come with a problem more pressing and practical than existential angst about "who he really was."

Namely, he couldn't date one of his fellow superheroes without potentially compromising his civilian identity and breaking the league's code (which he cared significantly less about, since the codes were barely effective or enforced).

"Thanks for saving my ass earlier, Grem. What would this team be without you."

"Do learn to be more careful next time. You're the leader, after all...and I told you to not shorten my codename like that."

"Thank you for your most gracious assistance, oh great legendary hero Gremory."

"You're insufferable, do you know that?"

"Yeah, I hear it's a requirement for being a superhero these days."

Best case scenario was the two of them running into each other in their daily life by "pure coincidence," and "hitting off immediately as though they already knew each other," but Derdriu was a big city.

The only leads he had on Gremory were that she was around the same age as him (probably a few years younger), in some kind of science-y field, and liked cute things and sweets. 

He paused.

"Hey, Grem. Do you like lokum?"

"The Almyran delight jellies?"

"Yeah, they also call it that."

"I haven't tried them."

"I'll bring you some next time, then. You know, as a token of gratitude."

"I'm fairly sure that's against the code of conduct, but...alright." 

Once Gremory walked off, he pumped his fist in the air.

\---

He got her a box of various Almyran sweets from Helal, a little family-owned bakery and café located within fifteen minutes walking distance from Kent Busines School's campus. 

It was also where he got his morning and afternoon coffee from. Normally, he grabbed the order as soon as it came and walked off, but that had changed in the past few weeks. 

Right now, he was carefully surveying the people entering and leaving, looking for someone about fifteen centimeters shorter than him, with a body language that showed that she wasn't familiar with this place--

"Mocha with extra syrup and cream, please. And three pieces of baklava."

"Name?"

"Lysithea."

\--the white-haired girl walked right over to his table.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here."

He glanced at the Essar Research Institute bag, the rabbit phone case, the small motions her fingers made at her side.

"Sure, why not."

"Thank you, Bar--"

She paused, eyes wide and round.

"--what's your name?"

His mouth widened into a big grin on its own.

"Claude is fine, for now."


	6. Horns and Nests (Monster Boy/Girl AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had jackalope!Lysithea x wyvern!Claude idea in my head for a long time, finally got to write it.
> 
> I might end up making this into a series of its own because monster boy/girl stuff is both inherently cute and horny.

"A...what?"

"A pseudopregnancy," Lysithea answered, curling up in her nest of blankets. "Means my body thinks it's pregnant when it's, you know, not." 

"Oh. Yeah, I think I've heard of it before," Khalid nodded, plopping down next to her. "Although it was usually in the context of rabbits."

Lysithea grumbled and lightly headbutted his wings-slash-arms. 

It was true that jackalopes did belong in the same family as rabbits and hares (even though they were carnivorous predators, unlike the other two) and thus shared many biological characteristics, such as breeding frequently and having induced ovulations. 

She still didn't enjoy being compared to them, however, because 1. only hornless young jackalopes got mistaken for being rabbits, and 2. many larger apex predator types tended to ignore and look down them on the basis that they were small and closely related to herbivores.

"Really, though. Tell me if there's anything I can do to help," he murmured, sliding down to kiss her forehead. 

Thankfully, Khalid wasn't one of those types, despite being a wyvern-- he just liked teasing her.

"...It'll go away on its own soon," she answered, and puckered her lips to ask for another kiss there. 

He complied. "Is there a reason why this is happening now, of all times? I mean, we've had sex before, but that didn't seem to affect you this way."

"That's because I was on birth control. But now that I'm not and we're living together..." Lysithea closed her eyes and buried her face into his neck. "...I suppose just, constantly being around you is doing weird things to my body and hormones."

She felt his breath hitch, and claws gently gripping her waist.

"...had kids?"

"Hm?"

"What do you think it would be like, if we really had kids?"

Kids.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't think of it before: little cubs, with bright green eyes and fangs like his. She had no idea how wyverns were raised, exactly-- whether they even breastfed, or how they were supposed to learn to fly-- but she could learn, would learn, for their sake.

"I think they'll probably end up being handfuls, given both of our personalities," she answered.

"That's why I've got big wings," he grinned, enveloping her in them. "I can handle them."

"Why, good luck, then."

"I'll be the luckiest guy in the world, if I get to raise a whole litter of little lop-eared kits that look just like you."

Lysithea felt her face heat up, both at the overwhelming affection of the statement and the implication behind it.

"...A whole litter?" 

"Yep," his claws trailed upwards, until the thumb claw rested over her breasts. "Maybe we can start practicing, once you've recovered--"

She cut him off by grabbing his antlers and kissing him, hard and deep.

"Now."

"What?"

"Let's do it now," she repeated, angling her head forward to touch horns, "since you said you could handle it."

This time, it was his turn to blush. 

**Author's Note:**

> [My twitter](https://twitter.com/slotumn?s=09)   
> 


End file.
